A total of 100 out-of-school young girls and women participated in the just-concluded 12-month entrepreneurship and mentoring programme sponsored by the United States Consulate Office in Lagos.
The programme is on the platform of Girls Creativity Hub, a U.S. government exchange alumni-led project in the country.
According to the Embassy in a statement, participants, aged between 18 and 25 years, received training and mentorship in areas of creative design, entrepreneurship and leadership skills and were also presented with start-up kits, with the overall goal of establishing economic independence.
In his remarks at the closing ceremony of the programme in Lagos last week, U.S. Embassy Counsellor for Public Affairs, Adnan Siddiqi, highlighted the U.S. Mission’s goal of strengthening human capital for inclusive Nigerian economic growth and human development, saying “the project is meant to enhance the capabilities of young girls and women to create sustainable small businesses for self- reliance.”
According to him, the US believes that the economic empowerment of women is crucial to the development of every country as any gains in economic growth, development, science, or technology of any society without women’s inclusive participation, will be unsustainable.
While noting that the project was funded specifically by the US’s State Department’s Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund which is an annual global competition, he said the aim was to support the efforts of the alumni exchange programmes towards bringing solutions to global challenges.
He named Modupe Darabidan and Remy Shittu as two alumni who won the Mandela Washington Fellow in 2019 and the 2018 International Visitors Leadership Programme in 2018 respectively, as the brain behind this particular initiative was to support the marginalised young women.
“And the embassy is very proud to have them for giving back to their communities,” he added.
Siddiqi, however, listed some of the exchange programmes and initiatives that focused on supporting women and economic empowerment to include TechWomen, the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs, the Global Sports Mentorship programme, the Fortune Global Women’s Mentoring Partnership, and the TechGirls programme, and so forth,
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
We Have Not Had Water Supply In Months ― Abeokuta Residents
In spite of the huge investment in the water sector by the government and international organisations, water scarcity has grown to become a perennial nightmare for residents of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. This report x-rays the lives and experiences of residents in getting clean, potable and affordable water amidst the surge of COVID-19 cases in the state.
and then